N A G OYA U N I V E R S I T Y L I B R A R Y W O R K S H O P S 2 0 1 6

Academic Writing
andLogical Thinking
May 18 ~ June 15, 2016

Instructor: Dr. Paul Lai

N A G OYA U N I V E R S I T Y L I B R A R Y W O R K S H O P S 2 0 1 6Review

All academic writers are required to know

The Writing Requirement
How words can be properly arranged
to express the ideas.

The Thinking Requirement
How ideas can be properly arranged
so that they can be properly expressed
through words in a clear & convincing
manner.

Being Clear
Having a
Truth Condition

One Sentence

ThesisStatement
Non-Compound
Sentence Structure

Minimum Lexical &Structural Ambiguity

4

Thesis Statement

Support 1

Support 2

Support 3

(Homework)(i) Think about a paperthat you are planningto write.
(ii) Develop a thesis
statement for thepaper.
(iii) Presenting yourthesis statement onJune 15.

Try to make the following reason convincing:Peter cannot submit the assignment on Monday
because his computer broke down on Saturday.

How to use logic
practicallyWhat is logic?
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An Instrument forAcquiring Knowledge
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Logic is the “organon”, orinstrument of thought,
which is specifically usedfor acquiring knowledge.
According to Aristotle,
we would not come toknow anything withoutlogic.
384-322 BC

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

When you see many people inside a
subway station wearing a wet raincoat or
carrying a wet umbrella, what can you tell?

It must be raining outside.

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITIONINFERENTIAL
R E L AT I O N

Wet raincoats

Rain outside

What is inference ?
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INFERENTIAL
R E L AT I O NStatement 1True

Statement 2

Truee.g. If Peter is in Tokyo, then Peter is in Japan.

INFERENTIAL
R E L AT I O NStatement 1

False

Statement 2

Falsee.g. If Peter is not in Japan, then Peter is not in Tokyo.

The truth/falsity of statement 1
affects
the truth/falsity of statement 2
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Some examples of logical inferences
All people who live in Yada Residence are teachers.

No one who lives in Yada Residence is not a teacher.
Teacher

YadaResidenceSome examples of logical inferences
Some people who live in Yada Residence are teachers.

Some people who live in Yada Residence are not teachers.

Teacher

YadaResidenceSome examples of logical inferences
No men are angels.

No angels are men.

MenAngelsSome examples of logical inferences
All dogs are animals.

All animals are dogs.

Animals

Dogs

Some examples of logical inferences
All human beings are animals.

Peter is an animal.

Animals

HumanbeingsPeterSome examples of logical inferences
All human beings are animals.
Peter is a human being.
Peter is an animal.

Animals

Humanbeings

PeterUnderstanding
how to make logical inferenceis vital for understanding logic

Exercises onlogical inference 1

Logical InferencePremiseConclusion

Part A of the exercises is designed to train you
how to make a proper inference based on apremise.

Each one of the exercises comes with (i) one statement corresponding to afactual event, and (ii) four inference choices that follow from (i). Althoughmore than one of the four choices might be logical, you need to find out
the one that is most likely / certainly true following from the truth of (i).

e.g.
Ex-1. Paul is in London.

England

London(a) Paul is on a business trip.
(b) Paul will not come back to Japan for a while.
(c) Paul is in England.
(d) Paul likes London.

Exercises on
logical inference 2

Logical Inference
Conclusion

PremisePart B is designed to train you how to find theproper premise for a conclusion.

Each one of the exercises comes with one
conclusion and four premises. Find out thepremise without which the conclusion is mostcertainly false. Note that your consideration isrestricted to the four possible premises only, andyou are supposed to choose, among the four,
the one that provides the necessary support forthe conclusion. Further note that additional
premise or premises may be needed in order tomake the conclusion true.

Fun Exercise!!
Solving Logical Puzzles

Puzzle 1:
Who is doing what?

Alonzo, Kurt, Rudolf, and Willard are four creative artists ofgreat talent. One is a dancer, one is a painter, one is a singer,and one is a writer, though not necessarily in that order.
(1) Alonzo and Rudolf were in the audience the night thesinger made his debut on the concert stage.
(2) Both Kurt and the writer have had their portraits
painted from life by the painter.
(3) The writer, whose biography of Willard was a best-seller,
is planning to write a biography of Alonzo.
(4) Alonzo has never heard of Rudolf.
What is each man’s artistic field?

Thank you very much!